Stiller than Death Would Allow
by Boom-Rhapsody
Summary: Death is the end, but it isn't meant to come in between life and itself. when an accident throws the team into chaos, what will happen? OCOC


**Stiller than Death Would Allow**

Chapter One: Timeless

_Running, faster and faster her heart speeding up to cope with the stress. Her breathing was ragged and her vision blurring. Unaware of what had happened, she ran still, confusion and fear halting all rational thought and reason as instinct told her to RUN, and RUN and RUN._

_She stumbled and fell, tasted the earth and the forest litter. She spat and coughed and got up, not willing to stop, though her body begged for such an end. They were getting faster and faster, why were things so wrong? Why wasn't anything right?_

_Was it destiny that she ran? Ran from what? From whom? Still the sounds of her pursuers caught up with her, she fell again, over a log, and with ragged breath she hurried to hide in a ditch, close to a stream._

Water_. The sound flooded her senses and she got up. Crossing the stream she ran still, constantly running. But her body was fast failing. What had she done so terribly wrong to cause this?_

Jean shot up out of bed, gasping for breath, her hand on her chest. Her eyes darted around the room frantically — everything was the same, she was in Bayville, in Westchester, in her room. There were no forests here.

She coughed, the bitter taste of earth on her tongue. Shocked, she grimaced and got up, rushing to open the door. She went to the bathroom, eager to rid her mouth of the taste. Opening the door, she turned on the light and closed the door behind her. Heading for the sink, she placed her hand against the counter and leaned against it, sighing before looking up at her reflection. Dark eyes with even darker circles under them stared at her wearily. Jean felt her cheek, so cold and clammy.

What had happened? The dream was so real, she could have sworn that it was had she not awoken.

Jean ran the water and splashed it on her face; "Get a hold of yourself, Grey," she said to her reflection, the mirror echoing her movements; "It was just a dream."

But was it her own?

Jean shook her head, looking down again at the sink, watching the water swirl down the drain. She wiped her hand down her face, and then looked into the mirror again, only to shriek. In fear she fell back, a scream caught in her throat.

The face she saw was not her own. It was pale, scared, and wretched. Its eyes bore into her, such a piercing amber, they were gold with anger. And yet… they were so _afraid_, so _scared_. Was it an illusion, or a calling?

But as quickly as it had happened it was gone. Jean stared at the mirror, frozen with fear. Scott and Ororo burst through the door, going to her. Others filled the doorway, and Professor Xavier made his way through.

"Jean? Jean what happened?" he asked worriedly.

Jean only shook her head, finally given into the shock. She let out a pathetic sound and turned into Scott, burying her face in his shirt as she held onto it with her fist so tightly clenched as she began to shake. Then, she fainted.

"Jean? Jean!" Scott said, wrapping his arms around her protectively.

"Alright, all of you back to bed!" Ororo said to the gathering crowd, shooing the students away.

"Scott, take her to her room, please," Xavier said with a sigh, "Ororo, please, come with me."

"But, Professor—" Scott began as he picked Jean up bridal style.

"Please, Scott, she will better off if she were to wake up in her own bed," Xavier all but snapped, wheeling out of the room with Ororo close behind.

"Charles, do you understand what happened?" Ororo asked as they made their way to the elevator.

"In due time," Xavier said.

* * *

Officer Rodger Callsbrook got up from his desk, a file in hand. He sighed as he headed for the first interrogation room. It was three in the morning, and the officer was not enjoying his turn at the grave yard shift. But as he neared the familiar steel door, his mind shot back to the recent past… 

…_He had been driving for an hour, on patrol. In the small town nestled in the Appalachian Mountains, he didn't have much to patrol. But it was the back roads where he knew brawls started up that made him go out at two in the morning._

_He drove down the beaten roads, so old and unpaved. Dirt and mud plastered onto the side of his brand new cruiser; he would have to clean it in the morning. Or maybe he could get the new rookie cop to clean it. Yeah, the rookie could do it._

_Rodger drove over a rickety old bridge; one he remembered had once been white, back in his childhood. He was fifty now, though, and those days were footnotes to a page, it seemed. He sighed, briefly going back to the days where nights were spent sleeping and dreaming of catching the greatest pass in football history, and not driving around trying to catch criminals and troublesome teens. _

_Rodger yawned, looking out at the patch of road his headlights shown on. He saw someone run onto the road, out of the forest, and had slammed his foot on the breaks when the person froze in front of his car like a deer. _

_Rodger jumped out of the car, taking into affect that the person was a teen and a girl. She was dirty, frightened, and fidgety. But she did not run when Rodger held up his hands and slowly approached her._

"_My name's officer Callsbrook, ma'am!" he said, pulling his jacket off; "Are you okay? Here, let me help you!"_

_The teen stared at him, wide-eyed, still as a statue. Ignoring the growing nervousness in his head, Rodger put the jacket over the girls shoulders, and led her to the cruiser…_

…Rodger blinked, sighing before he opened the door. The teen was sitting in a chair by a table, hands gripping the jacket Rodger had given her earlier. She still had that frightened, dazed look to her eyes. She was still dirty, and smelled heavily of rain and the earth. But what Rodger noticed was the fire that kindled in her eyes.

"Miss, can I have your name, please?" Rodger asked, sitting across from across the girl; "I'm gonna need it, and yur parents' names, too."

The girl's eyes slowly traveled up to the flickering bulb above them. A moth flew around the light, bumping into it occasionally. Rodger followed the

girl's gaze for a time, then uneasily watched her. The girl slowly looked at him, and her mouth parted to utter a small, short, quiet word.

"Ada."

"Ada?" Rodger asked, "That yur first name?" he waited for a reply, but the girl only looked down again. He assumed though, that Ada was her name.

"Ada, are you from around here?" Rodger asked; "Yur gonna have t' work with me here, chil'…"

The girl, Ada, looked at him again; "Where am I?" she asked quietly.

Her voice was soft like a whisper, harsh like a cough. Rodger wondered how long the child had been running, how long she had been outside.

"Yur in Abingsdale," Rodger replied, smiling slightly; "Glad to see you can talk," he said with a little laugh; "You hungry? Don't got much, just donuts and coffee…"

Ada shook her head and looked down, her fists tightening on the jacket, but her knuckles couldn't get any whiter; "no thanks," she said quietly.

Rodger nodded; "Well, I'd like t' take ya home, Ada," he said kindly; "But I gotta know where yur from."

Ada averted her gaze; "I'm from 'round," she said.

"You from the city, or one o' the annexes?" Rodger asked.

Ada shrugged; "From a farm," she said, coughing; "Jerreth farm…"

"I know where that is," Rodger said; "I could take ya home. Do ya wanna call yur folks?"

Ada shook her head; "Well then, let's get you home;" Rodger said as he got up.

Ada looked at him, and then got up herself.

* * *

They rode the elevator down to the lower complex in silence, and Xavier only spoke once they had reached Cerebro. "Over the past several days, I have been receiving uncertain signals," he began as he brought the computer to life; "And, I have been researching, tracking, but I had only pin-pointed the signal earlier today;" boxes appeared in front of them, and Ororo noticed they were newspaper articles; "Our mutant," Xavier said; "Is Ada Boyd." 

"This article said that she is missing," Ororo said, quickly reading the article; "It seems her family is very worried. Do you think she managed to startle Jean?"

"I am quite sure of that at this point," Xavier said; "But, I am not sure how she did. Jean shrieked, so it was a surprise, it was sudden…"

"Not uncommon for new mutants," Ororo mused; "She's almost sixteen… And has had trouble with the law in the past."

"Yes, refusing and officer and driving without a license," Xavier said; "But then, I have found that her parents are divorced, but she is living comfortably with her mother and stepfather."

"So, she should be happy…?"

"From what I can gather, yes, she should," Xavier replied; "If we confronted her, we would have no trouble doing so. But, she _is_ missing."

"Do you think she was able to contact Jean with telepathic powers?" Ororo asked.

"It would seem so, but I do not think that her powers are just in her mind," Xavier said; "This article here," he pointed to the center box; "States that the place she was last seen at was found… _frozen_."

"_Frozen_?" Ororo asked; "How so?"

"_Everything_! All life stopped, the clocks stopped, there was popcorn in a microwave that froze in its popping!" Xavier's voice was gradually gaining excited interest. "Do you realize what powers that must take? To be able to freeze something, anything?"

Ororo stared at the screen; "Are you suggesting that we find her, before it happens again?"

"Oh, we had better!" Xavier said; "Who knows what she is capable of!"

* * *

Rodger was a fan of jazz. It played from the radio, soft and soothing to him. Ada sat across form him in the passenger side, her eyes staring out the window. She didn't talk to him, though twice he had tried striking up a conversation. But Ada just looked at him with those amber eyes, and then would turn and look out the window. She still held onto the jacket, as if for dear life. Rodger had the heat on, and he was burning up. But Ada didn't seem phased; it was like, to her, the heat wasn't even on. 

Rodger was turning around a corner when he saw a doe crossing the road. He let out a quick curse word and veered off to the right, narrowly avoid the deer. He almost lost control but managed to reduce his speed and avoid going over and into the ditch. But in the quick turn he heard Ada's head hit the window none too gently. He slowed the cruiser to a stop and looked at his passenger worriedly.

"Ada? Are you…" his voice trailed off as he saw the girl, and fear gripped his heart.

Ada seemed to have a glow to her. Her eyes were lit up, a vibrant gold. Her hair was waving around her, like there was a breeze, and she was holding her hands to her head. She looked at Rodger and it her mouth opened to scream.

But he didn't hear her. His heart slowed, his motor functions ceased, and he was in suspended animation. The radio stopped, the sound of the motor stopped. Everything stopped.

Except for Ada.

* * *

Kurt, Scott, Rogue, and Kitty were all in the Jet with Logan, Storm, and Xavier. Called onto an emergency assignment, the four students were sleepy and almost comatose. Kurt slept with his head back and mouth open leaning against rogue, who was too tired to shove the mutant off of her. Kitty was asleep in her chair, but Scott was looking out the window, deep in thought. 

"Wake up, you all!" Ororo called, the sudden noise waking Kitty and Kurt; "We're here!"

Ororo then looked at Xavier; "Is this where the last signal was? In Abingsdale?" she asked in a quiet voice.

Xavier nodded; "Yes," he replied; "X-Men, be on your guard. I'm not sure what you'll be up against. When I land the jet, Kurt, you and Kitty will do a quick patrol. Scott, Rogue, you two will follow."

The jet landed in an open field, and the steps hit the grassy earth. Kurt teleported out with kitty, and he then 'ported around, Kitty running for the forest, fazing through trees and everything else in her way.

Kurt found a dirt road, and he began walking along it, pulling out a flashlight. When he saw something in the middle of the road, he shined the beam of light on it, and was surprised to see a deer statue. It looked so lifelike, so real. With the curiosity of a child, Kurt rushed over to it and began inspecting it. He felt the fur; that was real. He looked at it up and down; it was a real deer, not a statue. Perhaps a taxidermist lost a project, he thought. Kurt looked down at the hooves, but the flashlight showed something else that caught his attention.

Skid Marks.

With renewed interest, Kurt grabbed his communicator; "X-Men," he whispered; "I haff found somet'ing! Queekly, I am haff a keelometer into dee woods."

He put his communicator away and followed the skid marks, his imagination envisioning what had happened to the car that created them. He looked up as he felt rain, but shrugged it off as he continued. He finally saw a patrol car, parked on the side of the road, break lights on, everything seeming to be fine. Kurt turned his flashlight off, then teleported to the cruiser's side, crouching low against it. He peered into the window, but saw that the drive was not moving, or breathing, for that matter. Kurt hastily opened the door, and shook the man's shoulders. But the man moved with his actions; he didn't react or turn around or say anything. Kurt teleported into the car, in front of the man, and saw the look of horror on his face, his mouth slightly open, as if he were about to say something. His hand was held out, reaching out towards the passenger side. Kurt turned and saw that the door was open. He hopped out of the car, and saw muddy footprints in front of the car, the headlights giving them away. He gulped, and again pulled out his communicator.

"Guys, dees is big, I t'ink I found dee mutant's trail! Hurry, der is a man here who needs medical attention!"

* * *

Ada stumbled onto the property that was so familiar to her. She looked around; the barn, the fields, the small house nestled in the middle of it all. Lights were on, on the first floor. She walked up to the front porch, entered the house, and listened to the silence. She was in the den, and looked over to the wall where there was a cookoo clock. The bird was out, mid-chirp, and the clock clearly said one in the morning. But she knew it was much later than that now. There was a dog curled up by the fire that seemed asleep, in front of a fire that did not flicker, or lick at the bricks around it. Ada set the jacket on a nearby chair, and continued down a small hallway and looked into the first room. 

It was the kitchen. In it were two people, a man and a woman. The woman resembled Ada; an older, worn-out version with black, graying hair instead of auburn. She seemed upset, her eyes staring at a chair by the kitchen table. Beside her was a man who was going bald; a farmer. He held his hat in one hand while his other was held out towards the empty chair. They were angry, disappointed, and sad. Their body language said as much.

Ada walked over to the woman. She did not move when Ada approached her. Ada waved her hand in front of the woman, but there was no change. Ada held a sob in her as she placed her hands around the woman's, but still, no change.

"I'm sorry," she said, tears flowing openly now.

Ada walked over to the man, and waved her hand in front of him. He did not respond. She tugged at his hat, like a child, but there was no sign that he was alive, that he was real.

Had she really done this?

"I'm so sorry!" she said, hugging the man's torso. Her tears dampened his shirt, and she tightened her grip in hopes that he would return. But when nothing happened she backed away, as if afraid of catching something, and she hit the wall. Sobbing she ran down the hall and up the stairs, into a room she knew all too well to be her own. She sank down against the bed, knees to her chest, arms around them, and sobbed, rocking back and forth. She moved in the house that could not progress, that could not obey the laws of time.

* * *

The X-Men met outside the Farm, having followed the trail. The four mutants looked at each other uneasily. 

"Sure this is the place?" Rogue asked, and Kurt nodded.

"Dee trail, she does not lie!" he said with a shrug. "Let us go…"

"No, wait!" Scott said, pulling the blue mutant back before he could teleport; "We don't know what's in there! We could all end up like that guy and that deer if we don't think for a second!"

"We've had like, and hour flight and then a twenty-minute man hunt to like, do that!" Kitty said; "Let's go!"

The four then walked up the drive, all on their guard. Kurt teleported into the house, and then came out to report that the coast was clear. They all entered the house, fanning out. Kitty found the kitchen scene first, and covered her mouth to muffle a gasp. Kurt rushed to her aid, and he too, was shocked.

"Ve must find her," he whispered; "Dis must stop!"

Kitty nodded.

Rogue stood at the bottom of the stairs, unsure of what to do. She could here crying coming from the second floor. She figured it was a good thing she was in civilian wear, because she didn't feel like scaring someone in her uniform. At least she could pass as a worried passerby. With a sigh, she began to walk up the steps. Her feet were light as air. She reached the second floor and paused, trying to pick which room to look in first. She finally decided on going right, to the first door on the left. The door was shut, but it was cracked.

Rogue knocked on the door; "You okay in there?" she asked quietly.

The crying stopped. Rogue paused, ready to pull off a glove at a moment's notice. When there was no sound for a spell. She nudged the door open with her foot, only to see Ada by the bed, looking at her fearfully over her knees.

"You Ada?" Rogue asked, walking into the room and standing close to the doorway.

Ada stared up at her; "Who're you?" she asked, getting up shakily.

"Rogue," the mutant replied; "The name's Rogue. But you didn't answer me. You Ada?"

Ada was silent, then she nodded; "What… w-what d'ya want?" Ada asked.

"Ah wanna know what's goin' on!" Rogue said loudly; "First Ah find a deer 'n' some guy froze in the road, then Ah come here 'n' fine two more people froze! Did you do all that? Well, did ya?"

Ada was about to start crying again. She didn't need such a stranger yelling at her. So, her anger flared; "Yeah, I did!" she retorted; "But I don't know how! Leave me be!" she said, in a flash having crossed the bed and now standing by the window, ready to jump out, glass or no glass.

"Good, cuz Ah got a proposition for ya," Rogue said; "Yur ass is comin' with me t' get ya some help controllin' yer power."

"I ain't goin' anywhere with you!" Ada said, opening the window; "I don't know you!"

"Look Ah got friends around wantin' t' help ya out, too!" Rogue said; "Come on downstairs!"

Rogue turned to leave, but she heard the window open. By the time she had whipped around, Ada had jumped. Rogue rushed to the window and saw Ada climbing down ivy. Scott and Kurt had teleported outside when they heard the commotion, and Kitty fazed through a wall on the second floor. Scott and Kurt caught Ada, and though she fought Scott was stronger and her pinned her arms to her side and had her still.

"Please, we just want to talk!" he said over her shrieking, but Ada kept struggling.

"Just let me go before you die too!" she shrieked, and out of surprise, Scott let her go.

Ada sank to her hands and knees on the ground. By now Kitty and Rogue had joined the party, and the X-Men formed a square around her. Ada was shaking, she was getting cold, it was going to happen all over again and she couldn't control it.

* * *

**TBC

* * *

**

well, please review if you took the time to read all the way to the end! this story is OC/OC 


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